Jiangyin's first "Hucheng Five-Fixed Premium Express Shipping Route" launched

On the afternoon of July 6, under the meticulous support and maintenance of the Jiangyin Maritime Department, the "Xinwang" vessel carrying 143 containers slowly departed the port, heading to Shanghai Luodong and Yidong terminals. This marks the official launch of the "Shanghai-Jiangyin Five-Fixed Premium Express Route," providing Jiangyin with an efficient and hassle-free "water highway" to connect with Shanghai International Shipping Center and promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta.

"Domestic trade barge transportation along the Yangtze River faces challenges such as dispersed capacity, unstable timeliness, lack of priority guarantees for operations at both ends, and port delays caused by weather conditions, which restrict local enterprises' willingness to shift from land to water or public to water transport," explained a relevant official from Jiangyin Sunan Terminal.

To address these bottlenecks and pain points hindering port development, the "Shanghai-Jiangyin Five-Fixed Premium Express Route" was introduced. Operated by Jiangsu Jianghai Shipping, this route implements standardized operations based on five fixed criteria: fixed points, fixed routes, fixed vessels, fixed schedules, and fixed berths. The entire route deploys standardized barges over 80 meters in length, with exclusive priority operation channels established at terminals in Jiangyin and Shanghai. This effectively resolves issues such as scattered capacity, significant schedule fluctuations, low operational efficiency, and port delays caused by weather in traditional inland barge transportation, further stabilizing water transport timeliness and reducing logistics costs for enterprises.

To ensure the smooth implementation of the new route, the Jiangyin Maritime Bureau proactively coordinated with terminals and shipping companies, thoroughly assessing navigation conditions, vessel capacity configurations, and docking operation plans. They identified navigation risks in advance and guided enterprises to implement navigation safety and on-site operation control measures. On the day of the maiden voyage, the bureau strengthened on-site water area order management and safety inspections, directed passing vessels in the jurisdiction, strictly controlled risks associated with operations near water, and ensured the maiden voyage activities proceeded smoothly and safely.

"Port development must focus on both internal and external circulation. The launch of the Five-Fixed Premium Express Route is not only significant for facilitating internal circulation among Yangtze River Delta ports and reducing costs while improving efficiency for port and shipping enterprises, but it is also a vivid practice of creating the best business environment innovation zone in the Yangtze River Basin for Wuxi (Jiangyin). The maritime department will continue to ensure the regular safety supervision and navigation support for the route, fully serving the high-quality development of the port and shipping economy," said Jia Yabo, Deputy Director of the Jiangyin Maritime Bureau.

It is worth noting that the "Xinwang" vessel carried a total of 143 containers at Jiangyin Port, including 70 large containers and 73 small containers, mainly loaded with essential livelihood materials such as grain and steel, as well as industrial raw materials. This precisely matched the bulk cargo transportation needs of local enterprises, opening up an efficient new water-to-water transfer channel for Jiangyin's local factories and freight forwarding companies.

According to reports, the route will regularly operate four weekly services on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with plans to increase frequency and optimize schedules dynamically based on market cargo volumes. The launch of the route further enhances Jiangyin Port's water-to-water transfer and trunk-feeder logistics system, replicates Shanghai Port's mature standardized and centralized operation model to Jiangyin's inland feeder lines, addresses the shortcomings of rapid transfer between Shanghai and Jiangyin, and improves the integrated "trunk + feeder" network, thereby boosting the overall transshipment competitiveness of Jiangyin Port.